Moral policing: Woman tonsured, beaten up along with man in Assam

The police in central Assam's Nagaon district arrested eight people who had brutally beaten up a couple accusing them of having an illicit affair.
File Image for Representational Purposes. | Express Photo Services
File Image for Representational Purposes. | Express Photo Services

GUWAHATI: Militancy has waned to a great extent in Assam but incidents of mob-related violence are on the rise, leaving the police on their toes. The police in central Assam's Nagaon district arrested eight people who had brutally beaten up a couple accusing them of having an illicit affair.

The incident had occurred on Saturday night at Zumurmur village under Kampur police station. A mob of locals had confined one Ubed Ullah and the woman, who is married, before launching the attack on them. The mob had also tonsured the woman. The victims were rescued later by the police who rushed them to a hospital in Nagaon.

"We have registered a case under IPC Sections 147, 342, 325, 307 and 354 (B) and arrested eight persons. Our investigation is on," chief spokesman of Assam Police Rajib Saikia said, adding "the case is being supervised by senior officers and the situation is normal and being monitored".

A similar incident of mob attack had occurred in western Assam's Goalpara district last week in which a couple was thrashed and made to marry by a mob following a "judgement" by a kangaroo court. The mob had accused the victims of having an illicit affair. The police later arrested three persons in connection with the incident but several others are still absconding.

The incident was preceded by another brutal attack on a tribal woman by a mob in the same district for riding pillion with her Muslim friend. Fifteen people were arrested by the police.

The worst of the incidents was the killings of two young men from affluent families of Guwahati in central Assam's Karbi Anglong a few days ago. The victims were lynched by a mob on the suspicion that they were child abductors. Thirty six people were arrested by the police in connection with the incident.

Parts of Assam's tea belt and tribal areas are in the grip of superstitious beliefs. The police said they would soon launch an awareness campaign across the state. Witch-hunting, a social malaise, claims several lives in Assam every year.

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